Oliver Sheppard

Melankholia Oliver Sheppard

Award-winning writer L. Bachman, author of the acclaimed Blasphemer series of horror novels, presents here, with Melankholia, a new triumph in dark poetry. Melankholia is Bachman's second collection of dark verse. With this work, Bachman expands upon the brand of poetic gloom established in All of My Every Things, her first poetry collection which was released to widespread praise in 2019. The pages of Melankholia call forth a literary darkness that qualifies the collection for membership among the first ranks of the 21st century's new dark poetry movement. Drawing upon the styles of Dark Romanticism and Gothic Horror, and pulling from the traditions of weird horror fiction while employing a unique style of introspective lyricism, Bachman's words both examine and balance the interplay between light and darkness, presenting to the reader a troubling ambiguity between psychological trauma and supernatural horror: In Bachman's world, the pages of Melankholia reveal, darkness is always present, but light does not signify asylum from catastrophe, either: "Holding the sun / I found the light is frightening / Perhaps I will burn to ash."Melankholia is a landmark new collection of dark poetry. At turns haunting and rich, the poems of the work leave enough room for the dim light of hope to seep in. Each poem tells a tale. Melankholia includes poetry from All of My Every Things, pieces created in 2020, and previously unpublished works from the past twenty years of her life.